Mandatory “Vehicle to Vehicle” Communications Coming to U.S. Cars

The vision of ‘talking’ cars that avoid crashes is well on the way to becoming a reality. And we’re not just talking about cars talking to cars, but about cars talking to bikes, trucks talking to motorcycles, and even buses talking to pedestrians. This promises to significantly reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our nation’s roads while unleashing a new wave of innovation from advanced traffic management systems and smart mobility apps to real-time traffic, transit and parking information.

– Scott Belcher, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America

Worried about “pre-crime?” What about “pre-crash?”

The geniuses at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS) are so concerned about your “safety,” they have decided to take it into their own hands and make it mandatory that your car wirelessly communicate with other vehicles on the road. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx went so far as to say the technology could save “thousands of lives and even prevent accidents in the first place.” The concept of “pre-crash” has been born.

As in so many other aspects of life, there is a top down push to remove all control from the individual to the collective (recall the MSNBC host who proclaimed children don’t belong to their parents), typically justified within the content of the “war on terror,” and always justified with “it’s for your own good.” Apparently, we aren’t capable of making our own choices in anything any more, including something as simple as driving a car.

Washington— The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday it plans to propose requiring all new cars and trucks to eventually communicate with one another,which could one day help reduce up to 80 percent of crash deaths.

But under the tentative timetable laid out, automakers aren’t likely to be required to install the in-vehicle communication devices until around 2020 — and even then, the devices will be phased in.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will begin working on a proposal to require vehicle-to-vehicle communication in future cars and trucks. He said he hopes to propose the regulation by the time the Obama administration leaves office in January 2017. NHTSA gives automakers at least 18 months of lead time before mandating new technology.

Foxx said at a news conference the technology could save “thousands of lives and even prevent accidents in the first place.”

Acting NHTSA chief David Friedman said the technology is a “game changer” and “nothing short of revolutionary.”

Um, sorry but if this is such a “gamer changer” and “revolutionary” why not just put it out there and see if the market adopts it. If it is as wonderful as Mr. Friedman claims, why does it need to be mandatory. No one made Bitcoin mandatory, yet it is being adopted because it genuinely is revolutionary. This guy’s statement is completely idiotic.

But major challenges need to be addressed: including ensuring that the devices would be secure — to prevent hackers couldn’t take control of the signals.

Hahaha, ok good luck with that. Just ask Target for some tips.

NHTSA also expects to decide soon whether to require future cars to have active collision avoidance systems — like automatic braking that halts a vehicle about to strike a stopped vehicle in front of it.Those systems are currently on many luxury cars.

Yeah, what could go wrong…

Greg Winfree, assistant secretary for Research and Technology, said some automakers are already researching how they could tie together vehicle-to-vehicle systems and automatic braking. Future systems would also include cars talking to sensors embedded in highways. A car could alert a highway sign that the roads were icy — and the sign could flash a warning to drivers, Winfree said. “This a technological first step,” Winfree said.

Kill me.

Scott Belcher, president and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the nation’s largest association representing the transportation and technology communities including major automakers and suppliers, praised the announcement.

“The vision of ‘talking’ cars that avoid crashes is well on the way to becoming a reality. And we’re not just talking about cars talking to cars, but about cars talking to bikes, trucks talking to motorcycles, and even buses talking to pedestrians. This promises to significantly reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our nation’s roads while unleashing a new wave of innovation from advanced traffic management systems and smart mobility apps to real-time traffic, transit and parking information,” he said.

Of course he praises it, he is probably set to make a fortune from this mandatory gulag car network.